Single Mother Graduates College with Three Degrees

Graduating from college is a huge feat in it's own right; earning three degrees while raising three children is another thing altogether.

Deanna Jordan did just that when she graduated from UCLA this weekend. The 28-year-old from Compton says that she had her three sons in mind while accomplishing her goal.

“I needed for my sons to see there was a legacy that preceded them with college. I am the first in my family to go to college,” Jordan told CBS Los Angeles.

Jordan became pregnant with her first son at 18 and when she gave birth to her third child at the age of 22 she knew she had to make something happen, “I had him and in the hospital I remember thinking, ‘I’m 22, there’s no future unless I can create one,’” Jordan said.

Following two years at West Los Angeles Community College and three-and-a half- years at UCLA, Jordan is graduating with two bachelor's degrees and a master's in African-American Studies.

The busy mom also found time to start the Compton Pipeline Taskforce where she and UCLA volunteers work with students at Compton schools including Carver Elementary, where she was once a student.

Jordan says that it was family support and UCLA that helped her make it through. “You can’t really succeed unless you fail, and I failed a lot of times, but it was my persistence and my willingness never to give up,” she said.

The new graduate also works in the Compton mayor's office and plans to take a year off before heading to law school with plans of ultimately becoming a district attorney.